We still don’t know exactly what transpired just before former Titans kicker Rob Bironas died in a single-car accident on Saturday night. But new information gleaned from 911 calls and witness statements raise questions about what was going on with Bironas in the hours before he died.
The Tennessean has obtained 911 calls and statements from witnesses that suggest that Bironas was involved in some kind of road-rage incident with multiple other cars.
A student named Connor Fraley says he was a passenger in a truck that Bironas nearly hit. Fraley says he and the others in the truck smelled something burning coming from Bironas’s SUV and pulled up next to him to alert him to it, and that Bironas replied with an angry threat.
“His window was down, and we pulled up and I said, ‘Hey man, just a heads up, something’s burning from your exhaust. Your exhaust smells horrible, just wanted to let you know,’'' Fraley told the Tennessean. “He looked over at me and said ‘I’m going to kill everybody in your [expletive] vehicle. It was so random, so bizarre I was like, ‘What?’ And he said the exact same thing again.”
In a separate incident, a woman told a 911 dispatcher that another driver -- later identified as Bironas -- tried to run the vehicle in which she and her and her husband were traveling off the road. That woman thought Bironas might have been drunk, although police say there is no evidence that alcohol played a role in the crash.
“He is dangerous, he is drunk or something. He tried to start a fight with us,’' the woman said of Bironas on the 911 call. “My husband ran down there to see what is going on. I just want to tell the police there is something wrong with him. He is dangerous, he is drunk or he is on drugs. There is something wrong with him. He gave us a mean look. We don’t even know him, and he tried to run us off the road.”
Bironas died after his SUV hit several trees at around 11 p.m. on Saturday. It is unclear where Bironas was going, but his wife had called police to report him missing. Rachel Bradshaw, the wife of Bironas and daughter of Hall of Famer Terry Bradshaw, said she assumed her husband was in bed asleep at around 10:30 p.m. but called police when she went to their bedroom and found him missing. She said there had been nothing wrong, the couple had not been arguing and it was unusual for him to leave home without saying anything.
The Titans released Bironas this offseason after nine seasons with the team. There had been no reports of anything wrong in Bironas’s life, and he was reportedly eager to continue his NFL career. He had a tryout with the Lions last week.
Bironas, the NFL’s all-time record holder for field goals in a game, was 36.